Korea players wore yellows ribbons on court at this week’s 2014 Badminton Asia Championships held at Gimcheon in the Korea, to show their thoughts were with the victims in the Sewol ferry tragedy. The sobering effect of the disaster left them more focused and even more determined than ever to win. In the end, with two golds, two silvers and a bronze, the Korea emerged with China as the bigger winner at the tournament.

 

Lovely Ashwini Ponnappa

 

One focus of attention on and off court was Ashwini Ponnappa, a beautiful young Indian woman. Due to a dispute between her partner Jwala Gutta and the Indian Badminton Association her partner was barred from playing in competitions for a time, leaving her without a partner to play with. At this tournament they knocked out more fancied opponents on their way to taking the bronze, a feat that is sure to have made them forget their recent frustrations.

 

2014 women’s singles winner Sung Ji Hyun (Korea)

 

The Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun was the fourth seed in the women’s singles. Her quarter final match was the toughest and most dangerous she faced in the whole tournament and she only beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in the deciding game by a whisker. In the semi-final and final she had an easier ride, taking both in straight games. In the final, she faced China’s world ranked No. 2 Wang Shi Xian. Sung played with composure and great shot accuracy  throughout, taking the match 21-19,21-15 and claiming the women’s singles gold for the Korea.

 

In the men’s doubles final, the Korea’s experienced Yoo Youn Seong／Shin Baek Choel played China’s 18-year old pair Li Jun Hui／Liu Yu Chen. The Chinese pair may be young but they are formidable on court. Liu is actually the son of the coach of the Beijing Women’s Badminton Team and the pair also took the men’s doubles titles at last year’s Badminton Asia Youth Championships and Badminton World Youth Championships, and also won their first title in a professional tournament by winning at the India Grand Prix Gold earlier this year. However, facing up to the old hand Yoo／Shin, although they put up a decent showing they still lost 20-22,17-21, leaving Yoo／Shin to take the gold for the Korea.

 

The Badminton Asia Championships is now over. We can now look forward to the Asian Games at the end of this year in Inchon, the Korea. We can expect top players from across Asia to compete at the games, including Chinese Taipei’s Lee Sheng Mu／Tsai Chia Hsin, “Indonesian Lightning” Ahmad／Natsir and highly popular Lee Yong Dae and Kim Ki Jung of the Korea who all  didn’t play in the Badminton Asia Championships, doing their best to win glory for themselves and their countries.

Game results of  Badminton Asia Championships 2014